New Distribution Data of Orb-Weaver Spiders in Morocco (Araneae: Araneidae)
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Kaposvári Egyetem Folyóiratai / Kaposvar University: E-Journals Acta Agraria Kaposváriensis (2016) Vol 20 No 1, 82-88. Kaposvári Egyetem, Agrár- és Környezettudományi Kar, Kaposvár New distribution data of orb-weaver spiders in Morocco (Araneae: Araneidae) J. Gál 1, L. Robson 1, G. Kovács 2 1University of Veterinary Science, Department of Exotic Animal and Wildlife Medicine H-1078, Budapest, István Street 2. 2H-6724, Szeged, Londoni Krt. 1., IV-II/10. ABSTRACT The authors collected and examined 11 species of 7 genera of the Araneidae family in Morocco between the 1st of June 2012 and the 31st of November 2013. These 11 species belong to the following genera: Agalenatea, Araneus, Argiope, Cyclosa, Cyrtophora, Larinioides and Zygiella. In this paper we add the first report on 10 of these species in the area of Morocco. Of all the taxa we found in Morocco only one - Araneus arganicola Simon, 1909 - was known from the country previously. (Keywords: Araneidae , faunistic data, spider, Morocco) INTRODUCTION The orb-weaver spider ( Araneidae ) shows high variety in morphologically forms including relatively small to large species ( Jäger, 2012; Jones, 1983; Loksa, 1972; Ubick et al., 2004). Their cephalic region of the prosoma is narrow, and then broadens like a bottle, but still usually remains flat. Their eyes are seated in two rows. The two lateral eyes in the lower row are further away from the rest of the eyes in the middle. They have strong chelicerae. Opisthosoma is very diverse in appearance, but usually carries the specific colour pattern for the given taxon. Pointed shoulders can often be seen on the dorsal side, as well as diverse protrusions facing the muscles and silk-gland. Their legs have well developed claws and are usually covered with spikes and hair ( Loksa, 1972; Ubick et al., 2004). Sometimes there is a significant difference in size and color between the sexes (sexual dimorphism). Most of their species make classic spiral orb webs, which are perpendicular to the ground, but some genera (eg. Cyrtophora ), make their webs horizontal to the ground and these are more complexly built than the spiral orb webs. In other species a thicker decoration line can be seen starting from the middle of the tangle web ( Loksa, 1972; Ubick et al., 2004; Álvares & Maria, 2004). There are very few data to be found about the occurrence of the species of this family in Morocco. Only one species is mentioned in the World Spider Catalog (2016), the Araneus arganicola . Deltshev (2015) has listed three species [ Araneus angulatus Clerck, 1757, Larinoides sclopetarius (Clerck , 1757) and Mangora acalypha (Walckenaer , 1802)] in his work. In this research were examined the spider species from high Atlas Mountains, Morocco above of altitude of 2000 m. M. acalypha and the Argiope lobata (Pallas , 1772) were published from Morocco by Denis (1956). The A. lobata was found in Volubilis and Ifrane. Beron (2008) in his work has listed some spider species but only L. sclopetarius belongs of Araneidae from Morocco in Atlas Mountains. 82 Acta Agr. Kapos. Vol 20 No 1 MATERIALS AND METHODS The first author collected in Morocco between the 1st of June 2012 and the 31st of November 2013 on the coastline between Rabat and Agadir. Potential habitats were checked on a weekly basis for months during the time of the research where special attention was paid for tangle webs. We documented our work with photographs. Specimens were collected individually and stored in the deep freezer until determination. We studied 40 females, 12 males and 4 juveniles. We examined the genitals in adults and other morphological characters. We used the papers of Loksa (1972), Jones (1983), Ubick et al. (2004) and Jäger (2012) for determination to species level. The prepared genitals of specimens are deposited in the private collection of the first author in his department. RESULTS In our research in Morocco we found species of the Araneidae family that we listed below and marked on map ( Fig ure 4). Gen. Agalenatea Archer, 1951 Agalenatea redii (Scopoli, 1763) ( Figure 1. ) - The species was found in a strip of cork oak next to Sidi Allal el Bahraoui, (1♀, 34 o06 ’01,48”N, 6 o19 ’21,69 ”W, 20.09.2013., J. Gál). Figure 1 . Agalenatea redii (Scopoli, 1763) Gen. Araneus Clerck, 1757 Araneus angulatus Clerck, 1757 - The spiders were collected in the center of Rabat in a park (1♀, 1 ♂, 33 o59’32,83”N, 6 o51’51,88”W, 30.10.2012., J. Gál). Araneus arganicola Simon, 1909 - We found the species in a cork oak park northeast of Sidi Allal el Bahraoui (1 ♀, 34 o06’12,43”N, 6 o21’38,08”W, 19.09.2013., J. Gál), (1 juv., 33 o59’28,88”N, 6 o51’18,55”W, 10.09.2013., J. Gál), (1 ♀, 33 o58’28,92”N, 6o52’03,53”W, 8.10.2013., J. Gál) (1 ♂, 33 o 58’33,08”N, 6 o52’01,07”W, 11.10.20134., J. Gál). 83 Gál and Kovács: New distribution data of orb-weaver spiders… Gen. Argiope Audouin, 1826 Argiope lobata (Pallas, 1772) - We only found the spider in one place in Morocco, about 80 km north of Sidi Alla el Bahraoui in a cork oak forest (6 ♀,3 ♂, 34 o05’56,27”N, 6 o19’02,25”W, 17.09.2012., 22.09.2012., J. Gál). Argiope trifasciata (Forsskál, 1775) - While collecting our samples, we found this species in areas north of Sidi Allal el Bahraoui, where they wove their tangle webs close to smaller lakes (11 ♀, 2 ♂, 34 o06’09,14”N, 6 o22’00,59”W, 13.08.2012., J. Gál). We found two animals sitting in their webs in parks in Rabat and we managed to verify one specimen sitting on artificially established hedges in front of the library of the Institut Agronomique et Vétérinarie Hassan II located at the crossing of Avenue Allal Al Fassi and Avenue Hfiane Cherkaoui (2 ♀, 33 o58’49,53”N, 6 o51’45,88”W, 18.09.2012., J. Gál) and at the Rabat Zoo (Jardin Zoologique de Rabat) (1 ♀, 33 o57’16,92”N, 6 o53’41,53”W, 01.10.2013., J. Gál). Gen. Cyclosa Menge, 1866 Cyclosa conica (Pallas, 1772) - We collected this species in areas surrounding Kenitra (1♀, 34 o15’02,60”N, 6 o35’00,00”W, 10.08.2012., J. Gál), Fez (3♀, 34 o02’04,38”N, 5 o00’01,41”W, 19.09.2012., J. Gál) and Casablanca (1♀, 2 ♂, 33 o32’06,09”N, 7 o34’58,67”W, 27.08.2013., J. Gál). Cyclosa oculata (Walckenaer, 1802) - We found the specimens in the region of the Atlantic Ocean in Morocco all along the coastline. We also collected specimens from northern Tanger (1♀, 35 o46’07,18”N, 5 o48’02,08”W, 21.10.2012., J. Gál) until Agadir (3 juv., 30 o25’46,62”N, 9 o35’53,86”W, 11.06.2013., J. Gál) going south. Gen. Cyrtophora Simon, 1864 Cyrtophora citricola (Forsskál, 1775) ( Figure 2) – We collected this species in more than one place in Morocco, including the parts of Kenitra (1♀, 34 o15’02,60”N, 6o35’00,00”W, 10.08.2012., J. Gál) and Mohammedia (3 ♀, 2 ♂, 33 o40’59,96”N, 7o23’00,00”W, 10.09.2012., J. Gál). We found more than one web between the branches of a medieval thuja located in Rabat (4 ♀, 33 o59’05,71”N, 6 o51148,04”W, 02.08.2013., J. Gál). Figure 2. Cyrtophora citricola (Forsskál, 1775) Cyrtophora citricola lurida Karsch, 1879 - We found the specimens in Morocco close to Rabat next to a lower-order road (2♀, 33 o58’12,24”N, 6 o47’35,95”W, 27.07.2013., J. Gál). 84 Acta Agr. Kapos. Vol 20 No 1 Gen. Larinioides Caporiacco, 1934 Larinioides cornutus (Clerck, 1757) ( Figure 3) - We collected the spider close to Sidi Boukhalkhal and its web on dried vegetation close to a lake (1 ♀, 1 ♂, 34 o06’03,16”N, 6o19’21,96”W, 13.10.2012., J. Gál). Figure 3. Larinioides cornutus (Clerck, 1757) Gen. Zygiella F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902 Zygella x-notata (Clerck, 1757) - We found this species during our collecting close to Khemisset (1 ♀, 33 o48’57,67”N, 6 o06’14,91”W, 01.11.2012., J. Gál) next to the two lined A2 highway going to Fes. Figure 4. Map of sampling sites and distribution of the occurred species in Morocco 85 Gál and Kovács: New distribution data of orb-weaver spiders… DISCUSSION During the 17 months research we found 7 genera ( Agalenatea , Araneus , Argiope , Cyclosa , Cyrtophora , Larinioides and Zygiella and 11 species all belonging to the Araneidae family. We confirmed the occurrence of Araneus arganicola in Morocco as mentioned in the World Spider Catalog (2016) by collecting specimens north-east of Sidi Allal el Bahraoui in a cork oak park and in Rabat. Araneus angulatus is known as a palearctic species ( World Spider Catalog, 2016). We collected our evidentiary sample in a pine park in the center of Rabat. From our knowledge, at the moment we think that Morocco is the most southern area of the distribution of this species. We also found the palearctic Agalenatea redii in the northern part of Morocco. Despite the wide distribution area of Argiope lobata and A. trifasciata in the old world, Moroccan occurrence was cited by Denis (1956). While collecting spiders in Morocco we found A. trifasciata in areas north of Sidi Allal el Bahraoui, where they made their tangle webs between soft stem plants near smaller lakes.